How to move beyond lecture capture: [PDF]

1. Table of contents 1.

Table of contents ......................................................................................................................................... 1-2

2.

The REC:all project ...................................................................................................................................... 2-4

3.

4.

2.1

Aims of REC:all .................................................................................................................................... 2-4

2.2

Partnership ......................................................................................................................................... 2-4

2.3

Background Information ..................................................................................................................... 2-4

Introduction to Lecture Capture as a technology........................................................................................ 3-6 3.1

History ................................................................................................................................................ 3-6

3.2

The definition of lecture capture ........................................................................................................ 3-6

Current state-of-the-art and types of LC – introduction to the LC Descriptive framework ........................ 4-8 4.1 4.1.1

Recording ....................................................................................................................................... 4-8

4.1.2

Archival ......................................................................................................................................... 4-12

4.1.3

Retrieval ....................................................................................................................................... 4-13

4.2 5.

6.

Components ....................................................................................................................................... 4-8

Types of systems............................................................................................................................... 4-13

Functionalities ........................................................................................................................................... 5-14 5.1

Integration ........................................................................................................................................ 5-14

5.2

Scalability .......................................................................................................................................... 5-14

5.3

Customisation ................................................................................................................................... 5-14

5.4

Interactivity....................................................................................................................................... 5-14

5.5

Mobility, mobile production and delivery platforms........................................................................ 5-14

5.6

Close captioning, subtitling and accessibility features ..................................................................... 5-15

5.7

Voice recognition .............................................................................................................................. 5-15

5.8

Automatic translation ....................................................................................................................... 5-16

5.9

Social mark-up (commenting) and networking features .................................................................. 5-16

5.10

Automated indexing and metadata .................................................................................................. 5-16

5.11

Integration with VLE platforms (Virtual Learning Environments) .................................................... 5-17

Technical trends and development ........................................................................................................... 6-19 6.1

Common trends ................................................................................................................................ 6-19

6.2

7.

Future developments ....................................................................................................................... 6-19

6.2.1

Attendance certification ............................................................................................................... 6-19

6.2.2

Automated camera tracking ......................................................................................................... 6-19

6.2.3

Other developments .................................................................................................................... 6-20

Technical guide and advice, tips and suggestions ..................................................................................... 7-22 7.1

What is Lecture Capture? ................................................................................................................. 7-22

7.2

Common Fears .................................................................................................................................. 7-22

8.

References and further reading ................................................................................................................ 8-24

9.

ANNEX: index of suppliers ......................................................................................................................... 9-25 9.1

Accordent Classroom Recording....................................................................................................... 9-25

9.2

Adobe Connect ................................................................................................................................. 9-25

9.3

AutoTrain .......................................................................................................................................... 9-25

9.4

BigBlueButton ................................................................................................................................... 9-25

9.5

Blackboard Collaborate .................................................................................................................... 9-25

9.6

Camtasia ........................................................................................................................................... 9-25

9.7

Capturer Lecture Video Recording System - Tel Aviv University (Tau), Israel .................................. 9-26

9.8

Cisco Lecture Vision - Cisco Systems. ............................................................................................... 9-26

9.9

Echo360 ............................................................................................................................................ 9-26

9.10

Epiphan ............................................................................................................................................. 9-26

9.11

Galicaster .......................................................................................................................................... 9-26

9.12

L2l (Live To E-Learning) - Cineca, Italy .............................................................................................. 9-26

9.13

Opencast Matterhorn ....................................................................................................................... 9-27

9.14

Openeya............................................................................................................................................ 9-27

9.15

Panopto ............................................................................................................................................ 9-27

9.16

Polycom ............................................................................................................................................ 9-27

9.17

Presentations 2go ............................................................................................................................. 9-27

9.18

Recordingbox by Fontys Hogeschool ................................................................................................ 9-28

9.19

Sonic Foundry Mediasite .................................................................................................................. 9-28

9.20

Switchcast Video Management System - Switch, Switzerland ......................................................... 9-28

9.21

Tegrity Campus ................................................................................................................................. 9-28

9.22

Telestream ........................................................................................................................................ 9-28

9.23

Vbrick Systems .................................................................................................................................. 9-28

9.24

Video Furnace Haivision ................................................................................................................... 9-29

9.25

Videolab by K.U.Leuven .................................................................................................................... 9-29

9.26

Videotorium - Niif, Hungary.............................................................................................................. 9-29

9.27

Vips - Kaunas University Of Technology, Lithuania .......................................................................... 9-29

9.28

Webex ............................................................................................................................................... 9-29

10.

Annex: Comparison between lecture capture systems and services .................................................. 10-30

2. The REC:all project REC:all is a transnational learning technology project (2011-2014) supported by the European Commission under the Life Long Learning Programme. It aims to explore new ways in which lecture capture can become more pedagogically valuable and engaging, and is investigating a variety of learning design, technical and legal issues.

2.1

Aims of REC:all

REC:all researched how lectures are currently being captured and used, exploring learning designs for flexible and off-campus delivery, reviewing technical, pedagogical and legal issues with an aim to producing practical guidelines such as this one to help teachers. The project has developed an active community of practitioners in this exciting area [www.rec-all.info] working with existing academic communities such as ViTAL (UK) and Special Interest Group (SIG) Web lectures (Netherlands). As part of the project REC:all tested a range of lecture capture ‘cases’ as carefully selected mini-projects. The projects were fully evaluated with a focus on student feedback. The aim was to develop transferable and tested pedagogical models, reference descriptions and benchmarks of good practice. These were released in 2013 as a set of REC:all guidelines –technological/pedagogical guidance fully supported by web resources including examples of use which will be released via the REC:all web site above.

2.2

Partnership

The REC:all partnership consists of:     

2.3

University College London (UK) - Project Leader ATiT (Belgium) Université de Lorraine (France) Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam (Netherlands) Universitat Politecnica de Valencia (Spain)

Background Information

More and more universities across Europe are recording their live lectures (and other events) and then putting them online as a way to support both on and off campus students. This is linked to a renewed interest in using digital video as an educational resource to support more open models of learning. We are therefore now seeing significant investment throughout the sector in video-based technology such as lecture capture, podcasts, multimedia lecture theatres, i-Tunes and internal YouTube-like services. The rationale is clearly to enhance the student experience on and off campus by providing better access to teaching events. In most situations this recorded material is still presented in very traditional linear formats which do not support significant re-use and re-purposing in a pedagogically innovative manner. However there is a growing interest in identifying active patterns of student usage of these resources, the potential of feedback to teachers on the original event and the linking in of social networking tools to identify and discuss educational ‘hot spots’ in the video resource. Lecture capture can also be used to develop rich media podcasts for mobile learners and integrate seamlessly with institutional virtual learning environments. As mobile capture tools evolve we are beginning to see students themselves sharing video clips, bringing 'social' video into the educational mainstream. Eventually we may see a convergence of institutionally and student generated resources.

Page 2-4 | How to move beyond lecture capture: Technology guide

Lecture capture is therefore increasingly emerging as a core technology for generating open educational resources for virtual campuses. REC:all aimed to challenge the prevailing view of lecture capture as a passive recording method. Lecture capture can offer unprecedented opportunities for reflective educational practice and development as previously ephemeral events can be shared, analysed and linked quantitatively to student engagement. There are further important areas of innovation identified by the REC:all team. Hardly any of the existing literature address the next generation of lecture capture technologies that will emerge during the lifetime of REC:all. New systems will certainly include 'social video' aspects. There are already models for this, Young and Meldgaard (2006) proposed a participatory model of educational video use that foreshadowed current Web 2.0 notions of ‘social video’. Another interesting pedagogical redesign to emerge recently is the use of prerecorded lecture content to radically reformat the learning process. This is known as ‘mastery learning’ (Bergmann and Sams 2010) or, more colloquially ‘flipping’ and is growing in popularity in the US secondary schools. In this model, students watch pre-recorded lecture content or ‘vodcasts’ at home and class time is spent in engaging hands-on activities and directed problem solving. UCL has been discussing the use of pervious year and bespoke web lectures to provide a hybrid model where the reliance on face-to-face lectures is gradually reduced. REC:all was therefore particularly interested in exploring these exciting ideas and filling in some of the large gaps in evidence. Our main aim was to overturn the view of lecture capture as a passive recording method and take advantage of the affordances of the newer systems have encouraged interest in identifying active patterns of student usage, the potential of feedback to teachers on the original event and the linking in of social networking tools to identify and discuss educational ‘hot spots’ in the video resource. Through a number of projects since 2003 the REC:all team established itself as the core of a community of experts stretching across the EU. All the partners have worked together in various projects, with a particular mention to VideoAktiv and the various MEDEA initiatives that arose from it and the recognition that there was the need to build a broader community of practice which should meet regularly through conferences and recognise its own quality practice through awards. The REC:all project is very much part of this broader initiative as we believe that in addition to being a ground-breaking learning technology in itself, lecture capture will bring in a new generation of media practitioners and users. The REC:all community is active on www.rec-all.info and http://association.media-and-learning.eu.


3. Introduction to Lecture Capture as a technology 3.1

History

Lecture capturing is much older than we may think initially . Let’s not forget that learners ages ago started to record what was said in class (or part of it) by means of pen and paper. Then, as technology developed, early examples of video recording appeared at Iowa State University in the 1932, the teleclasses of the Open University UK, and videoconferencing experiments live in classroom. These were all forms of captured lectures, most often with the students present in the classroom.

Iowa State University TV (by Special Collections Department / Iowa State University Library) In the 1980s, when video and audio recorders came available for the prosumer market, people started recording classes for the first time on videocassettes and more recently students began to record the lecturer’s voice from the front row on their audio-recorder, to take it home for later review. These were all early forms of ‘capturing’ lectures. The wish to capture is very old but the technologies that help us to automate this have developed tremendously in the last 10 years. When digital video recording technology made its way into the prosumer market lecture capture really started to take off. Being able to put recordings directly on a computer opened a range of new options for these recordings, mainly enabling editing, adaptation and distribution. Then, with the emergence of the internet and faster computer processors, these recordings could then be distributed without hardly any constraints of time and place, and streamed live, uploaded for later review on sites like youtube.com and vimeo.com or integrated in for example a Virtual Learning Environment. Simple step- by- step processes have been introduced so that non-technical people such as students, teachers and school administrators can also now record, manage and distribute captured lectures. Meanwhile lecture capture systems have developed into advanced and sophisticated services that allow for split screens, picture in/over picture, side by side pictures etc. to show the talking head of the lecturer besides a computer screen or white board. User-friendly editing programs that are integrated inside the lecture capture system enable almost everyone to transform long recordings into manageable content, which may be annotated, subtitled, tagged etc.

3.2

The definition of lecture capture

Lecture capture refers to the process using classroom-based hardware and software components often installed for (digitally) recording, archiving and distributing all audio and visual content of a lecture, conference, or seminar. It is the recording of live events such as a live lecture, presentation, seminar, conference or workshop. Not only the person who is presenting is recorded, but also the slides, screens, applications or


drawings ad graphs he or she is showing. Via a web browser these recordings can then be viewed in a single screen on PCs or other internet connected devices. The terms "web lectures “ /“lecture capture” and "video lectures" refer to the same approach and are commonly used in education, while in business the term "online presentation" is more usual. (Filius, 2008) In a recent Wainhouse report, Alan Greenberg 1 writes that lecture capture was an outgrowth of the video streaming business, which tended to focus on audio and video delivery. Some streaming companies recognised that adding other forms of content (PowerPoint presentations, Flash animations, video clips, quizzes, polls and surveys, simulations and screen recordings etc.) would serve colleges and universities very well. The lecture capture system records and archives content delivered in the classroom, including audio (such as the lecturer's voice), computer feeds (the presentation), and sometimes video (the talking head of the lecturer, or the writing on the white- or blackboard). The student can then immediately or afterwards view the class and search its contents via a browser on a computer or as a file downloaded to some other kind of device. Increasingly students are using mobile devices such as iPods, iPads, other smartphones or tablets etc. With the emergence of social networks like Facebook, YouTube, Vimeo, iTunesU etc. new forms of lecture capture distribution are emerging beside the often closed Virtual Learning Environments, making distribution and sharing content worldwide easier than ever. Even though the technology is only less than 10 years old, the definition of lecture capture above is already starting to blur. At its base, lecture capture is a solution that captures classroom-based activities (including whole class sessions on line as well as off line) in a digital format that is then available for download or consumption over the internet. But also beyond the physical constraints of the classroom, teachers start to use (web based or off line) lecture capture systems to record their own home produced short learning material videos or “knowledge-clips”. It seems now that lecture capture is becoming a collective name for all that has to do with video recordings of teaching materials (lectures) in education settings. In this review we try to outline some of the existing and emerging techniques that can change the way education is experienced. In this first version we will describe the technology in general based on commonly accepted definitions. The objective of this is to come to a descriptive matrix of lecture capture systems which will help us to collect data and experiences from users as well as descriptions and specifications of systems by lecture capture system providers. Such matrix eventually may help organisations to assess, compare and possibly select a lecture capture system that suits their particular needs and requirements. In this first version, we lay the foundation for this comparison, which will be published in spring 2013.

1

Greenberg, A., “Distance Education and e-Learning Landscape”, Wainhouse Research 2010


4. Current state-of-the-art and types of LC – introduction to the LC Descriptive framework 4.1

Components

Lecture capture consists of three distinct elements: the recording (or capture itself), the storage and management of the recorded lecture, and the retrieval and display (or playback) of the recorded lecture. These 3 components can run concurrently or at the same time, and then we speak of live viewing of lecture capturing, or one after the other, and then we speak of on demand viewing of lecture capture. To describe the technology more in detail, in this chapter we make a distinction of the technologies used for each of the three components, but it is important to keep in mind that many lecture capture solutions do not make the same clear distinction because they integrate recording, storage, retrieval and playback and both synchronous (live) as well as asynchronous (on demand) viewing within a single service or application.

Moreover, lecture capture systems almost always integrate with technologies that are already available or installed at the classroom or lecture hall or in whatever place where the lecture capture recording takes place. This is the case mostly for end user equipment such as the PCs on which the software runs, or cameras and microphones etc. but also for the operation of projector and screen, lights and blinds for example by means of a lecture automation system such as AMX, Crestron or Cue. This flexibility allows for the installation of lecture capture recording especially in almost any room where the lecture can take place and the requirements for such room are minimal: must have sufficient space to accommodate the “actor(s)2” and the equipment, must have sufficient light to produce good quality video images of the “actor(s)” and their attributes (Blackboard? Demonstrations?) and finally must be sufficiently quiet to allow good quality voice recordings. This is really most important as on average 80% of the essential information transfer in a lecture is by audio (voice).

4.1.1 Recording The lecture can be recorded in several ways: it can start automatically (with programmed equipment that starts recording for example set by a timer or by a programme schedule), with an operator (this can be a student who operates the capture equipment) or by the teacher (who starts the recording). All recording equipment (cameras, recorder, and audio) can also be controlled with some degree of automation or manual operation: note however that camera and sound operators are an important additional cost that can be minimised by allowing students to carry out these functions.

2

With “actor(s)” we mean all persons that are essentially involved in the delivery of the lecture (this could be the following: lecturer, student, assistant, lab assistant etc.) and in the capture of the lecture (recording technician, assistant…).


a) Hardware Hardware is used to capture and record the lecturer's voice along with a video of the lecturer and most often also with visual aids to support their presentation: slide shows or simulations or PC screen capture videos. These captured lectures are then presented to the audience with some connected projector or display. The recording of a lecture or presentation may use any combination of the following tools:

Microphone(s) Lecturer microphone It is advised to use a microphone that is close to the mouth of the speaker: the further away the more unwanted noise can be picked up by the microphone. We suggest using clip on or lapel type microphones or headband or headset microphones, certainly when the speaker moves around in the classroom, and then in combination with a wireless transmitter so that the speaker can wander around without limitations (but see reference to cameras below).

When the speaker does not move around, one can consider table microphones, in that case it is worthwhile to also look at PZM (Pressure Zone) microphones or boundary type microphones as they are effective in prioritising voice over surround noises. Again a headset or headband microphone is an excellent solution here.

Note also that in a very noisy environment even the best or most expensive microphone will not be able to record good sound, it is therefore always more effective to invest more in getting the microphone closer to the speaker rather than to buy a more expensive microphone.


Student or room microphone

When it is necessary to also record the voice of the students attending the lecture in the same classroom, the situation can become more complex. A simple solution is the use of a wireless handheld microphone that is passed around in the auditorium, a complex solution is the installation of a conference system with push button activated microphones on every desk. Room microphones that cover the whole auditorium to record the voice of individual students can be disappointing. They require expert research and installation. Note also that using more than one microphone will make the application of some kind of mixing device necessary: such audio mixer allows selecting or prioritising one audio source over the other. Although that there are “intelligent” automatic mixing desks, this may require manual operation and therefore become expensive and difficult to deploy on a large scale.

Camera(s) Presenter’s or lecturer’s camera Depending on the classroom dynamics or their teaching style, the lecturer will be moving around in front of the class or throughout the whole classroom, or be seated at his/her desk without moving around. This affects not only the way that the voice will be recorded (and thus the choice of microphone) but also how the lecturer will be captured on camera. When sitting or standing at the desk, a simple fixed camera, even a webcam, can be employed. This is the most cost effective solution.

When moving around it may be necessary to use a wide fixed angle camera that covers the whole area of movement, or a range of cameras that are covering parts of that area. With a wide angle camera the view of the lecturer may be so distant that there is limited capture of lecturer presence and body language. With multiple cameras however, some method of switching will be necessary: built in floor sensors can trigger the appropriate camera to be switched. This type of solutions can become quite expensive and difficult to install in auditoria.

A better solution is the use of a movable camera that zooms in on the lecturer and that follows him/her wherever they go. The so called Pan Tilt Zoom camera (PTZ camera) is used already for many years in videoconferencing: the camera can be adjusted by means of a remote control, or can be set up with a number


of pre-sets that can be recalled easily. PTZ cameras can be mounted in the room on furniture or on special tripods or can be even mounted upside down on the ceiling. Some PTZ cameras can be made to “track” the speaker by following a tracker or marker that is fixed to for example the clothing or the microphone of the speaker. Research is being done on intelligent automated tracking of the speaker. Alternatively it is also possible to install a manually operated camera in the room, but having a permanent camera operator will have a serious cost implication. Whiteboard/blackboard camera Similar cameras can be used to record the writings on the white or blackboard, when the lecturer makes use of this. To do so, it is important to carefully decide where to position the camera with regard to the board. Room camera and student camera Again similar cameras can be used to capture the activity in the whole auditorium, of groups of students or of individual students. To be able to adjust the camera to the specific part of the room or to the student(s) that need to be recorded, this camera needs to be adjustable or (remotely) operated. Document camera Lecturers that prefer to draw on paper or show small objects, can use a document or overhead camera, also known as visual presenters or visualizers. These are video cameras mounted on vertical brackets so that they can be placed over a document or object. When a paper is positioned underneath, the lecturer or presenter can write or draw on it while the viewers watch it on their own screen or on a projection screen. Small objects such as electronic boards can also easily be visualised in the same way.


Screen capture The screencast or video screen capture is the digital recording of computer screen output, often accompanied with simultaneous audio narration. Screen capture can help demonstrate and teach the use of for example software features. Screen captures are basic and easy ways of integrating technology into learning content. Screen captures provide high quality and easily readable recordings of screen contents, which is not so easy to achieve by recording the computer display with a video camera.

Presentation capture Last but not least is the recording of the presentation, this is somewhat similar to the screen capture recording. The PowerPoint or other presentations that the lecturer gives during the lesson, is recorded together with its interactions (pointer, clicks and moves) and with the voice of the presenter. This recording is than plaid back together with the voice (and image) of the lecturer, making what is most often the basic core element of a captured lecture.

b) Software Software is used on the capture hardware, on the production or distribution server, and on the viewer’s computer. Software ranges from simple web browsers and video players to stand-alone software programs made specifically for recording, managing and viewing lectures. In some cases the whole workflow of the lecture capture is managed inside a single software platform, and is the browser the only interface with the user that is independent of and not provided by the lecture capture system provider. The presenter's software (sometimes as a browser plug in or as a web based application or web service) as well as the viewers’ player must be compatible with the software on the server which receives the content from the capture hardware, produces it, and sends it live (synchronous) or on-demand (asynchronous) to the viewers’ computers. Lecture capture software suites in many cases also allow for editing and adapting the content. Recording technology: there are different ways to produce (record) lectures:   

Using specialist software and/or hardware for recording lectures (Echo 360, Panopto, Sonic Foundry...) Using a video conferencing system (Polycom, Cisco) or web conferencing tool (Adobe Connect, Spreed, WebEx, Big Blue Button, Skype, FlashMeeting, OpenMeetings...) Using screen capture software (e.g. Camtasia Studio, Microsoft Expression, Adobe Captivate, Movavi Suite, Jing, Screencast-o-Matic...)

The different systems are described in further detail under each of the lecture capture provider descriptions in the annex.

4.1.2 Archival Once recorded, the video, images and sound are then automatically combined into a single asset and either stored directly on the capture hardware or sent to a server over a LAN or the Internet. The video is processed to adapt it (encode) to the desired distribution mechanism and to enable the viewers to remotely access the recording, either in real time or in delayed viewing over the Internet. Lecture recording software increasingly supports advanced features such as indexing (through OCR or voice recognition), closed captioning, instant search, chapterisation, real-time video editing and annotation, metadata attribution etc. Storage of media assets requires large capacity: depending on the format (coding and compression) of the video, audio, presentations and other source elements, one minute of course programme uncompressed containing live video, slides and audio, can easily take as much as 1 GB. This is of course unmanageable and not scalable when all lectures within the institution have to be recorded. Therefore and because it will be


impossible for networks to handle the bandwidth required to transport such large files, management of the compression and encoding is essential from the recording stage to the distribution stage, including the storage. Archival also needs to meet the increasingly diversified demands of the students to access the media on the various devices they own.

4.1.3 Retrieval The most common method of retrieval of lecture recordings is on the PC that is accessing the web based media by means of a browser with a common media player and/or plug in such as Flash or Windows Media Player or other web based client. Students own different devices with different players, and different functionalities. Some students want to use their mp3-players, for example an iPod, where they upload audio-only files from lectures to listen again on a later moment. Podcasting (audio only) and Vodcasting (downloadable video playback) are now also available on tablets or Smartphones, connected to the campus network or the internet access allowing audio and video playback. Due to the emergence of mobile systems that do not support Flash (e.g. the popular Apple iPad and Android based mobile devices) a new standard for playback and display is emerging: HTML5. Note these same devices can also work as cheap capturing devices as they can act as audio or video recorders with the built in camera and microphone, acting as audio-visual note taking apparatus. Livestream is now introducing fast mobile broadcasting with its Producers iOS app from any Android or iOS based smartphone over 3G, 4G/LTE or Wi-Fi. A similarly smart and mobile device is the pen scanner, with which it is possible to audio record a lecture in sync with handwritten lecture notes, and then for example searches the same text and audio in a captured lecture.

4.2

Types of systems

Lecture capturing can be done in many different ways: with large permanent recording systems that are small studio implementations, over personal systems that are desktop based to mobile systems that are individual small systems or roll about systems that can be set up with ease in every classroom. In the classification of systems that we developed in the REC:all project, we will indicate what category each of the systems we identified and described belong to: 1. 2. 3.

Large room/auditorium Desktop Mobile


5. Functionalities The following is a non-exhaustive list of key functionalities of lecture capture systems that we came across in installations and uses in various institutions.

5.1

Integration

The possibility to embed (integrate) the access to the lecture entirely within the own site, and preferably within the institution or university’s virtual learning environment, or if that is impossible in other sites (for example provided by the lecture capture provider).

5.2

Scalability

Scalability is an issue on different levels: on a purely technological level scaling up the network solution for example can help overcoming buffering and video quality issues to ensure a good user experience. Reliable delivery is essential to ensure that all students have equal access to and similar experience of the learning content. Scalability is also an issue related to operation and management of the lecture capture: for example when the recording, editing and storage of the lecture recording require a lot of human interaction (e.g. camera operation or audio control by a dedicated camera or sound person, editing by expert etc.) Automatic lecture capture receives increasing attention: tracking techniques keep the camera focused on the lecturer and zoom in on audience members when they talk, making expensive video production teams unnecessary. Automatic synchronization of slides with video, teacher's annotations and other non-digital contents do not require post production by professional staff. Automation and self-operation allow thus for up scaling of the solution and larger deployments.

5.3

Customisation

Customisation allows the users (lecturers as well as students) enough freedom to customize the display and its layout, particularly as multiple image or content sources are brought into the lecture stream.

5.4

Interactivity

Some lecture players allow students to interact with the content and with each other using their webcams, text, and social networking sites, rather than simply viewing the lecture. Interactive elements such as the ability to submit written questions to lecturers in real-time, offer the lecturers an additional opportunity to address the questions of learners attending a live lecture. During the project students of the Hogeschool Utrecht experimented with live tagging of web lectures: during and after the lectures students could use their notebook or smartphone to add comments, links and other information on the timeline of the lecture. The complete web lecture is then made available online, including the students annotations.

5.5

Mobility, mobile production and delivery platforms

Today’s students expect the content to be available on any device, whether it’s a PC in the student’s dorm, a tablet, or a smartphone. Lecturers are equally keen on mobility and want to be able to create their lectures in the auditorium in front of a live student audience, or at home in front of their desktop PC.


Small and portable lecture capture systems consist of a “black box” that needs to be connected with camera, audio device, presentation device (PC) and the network allow for fast and easy deployment at a very low cost of installation and operation.

Example of a mobile live streaming device (by Epiphan)

5.6

Close captioning, subtitling and accessibility features

There are important benefits of captioning and subtitling of videos and of lecture capture programmes in particular: captions make these programmes accessible for viewers who are deaf or have reduced hearing, translating and subtitling make it possible to follow programmes in languages that the students don't speak, or to distribute learning programmes beyond linguistic boundaries. Learning materials can be accessed by a bigger, international and multilingual audience providing a global outreach to the institution. Transcription, translation and subtitling are laborious jobs that take a lot of time and effort and need to be done by competent people in order to be reliable. Media production techniques in video editing exist to do this, but these tools are very hard to scale up or to justify in an education context. Besides commercial organisations that do transcription, captioning, translation and subtitling (largely manually), there are also initiatives that try to bring subtitling more in reach of the end users. Amara is the organisation behind the free and open source tools are that can make the work of subtitling and translating video collaborative and simpler. These tools are a subtitle creation and viewing tool, a collaborative subtitling website and an open protocol for subtitle search and delivery. The result is www.amara.org. This site does not allow yet direct integration of subtitles or captions in the lecture capture but it is a first step in sharing subtitling projects. In the UK there are some experiments with the use of Twitter to add subtitles or captions to lecture recordings. More elaborate techniques are based on voice recognition e.g. YouTube.

5.7

Voice recognition

Speech recognition can be used as a transcription solution by students and teachers that need to capture lecture content in writing for close captioning or subtitling. But speech recognition is highly speaker dependent, it can only accurately transcribe the voice of a single speaker who has “trained” the system. So in theory each lecturer should use his or her own speech recognition while lecturing to the class, to have an immediate transcript of the lecture. Voice recognition software can also be used to transcribe lectures using a technique called parroting. When playing back the recording of the lecture through the headphones of the student can repeat the recorded text as he or she hears it played back in the microphone, and in that way transcribing the audio. Research is currently underway to see if in that way real-time captioning and transcription of class lectures can be made possible. The whole process requires a high level of quality assurance to guarantee acceptable quality content.


5.8

Automatic translation

A next step when lectures are transcribed is text based automatic translation. Translectures (http://translectures.eu/) is a EU funded research project that wants to research how to make transcription and translation of captured lectures easier, both by the current technology on automatic speech recognition (ASR) and machine translation (MT), but also with the development of more user-friendly user models for transcription and translation. Tests with this new methods are published on videolectures.net.

5.9

Social mark-up (commenting) and networking features

Lecture captures can become the hub of the multimedia learning experience in which social media as well as traditional media all have their own place: such ecology can consist of syllabus material such as slide sets (posted on Slideshare), lecture recordings, course notes but also searchable transcripts and subtitles (on Scribd), lists of related URLs (Delicious), student annotations and recorded discussions, social media discussions (Twitter), and finally a Wiki for frequently asked questions, class based note taking, group work and content development.

5.10 Automated indexing and metadata It is essential to search and find lectures after they have been recorded. In order to do so lecture recordings can be stored on media servers accompanied by their own (learning object) metadata. Learning Object Metadata or LOM is a data model (usually in XML) that describes learning objects or resources for their identification, discoverability, reusability and interoperability. The IEEE 1484.12.1 – 2002 Standard for Learning Object Metadata is an internationally-recognised open standard used by many learning content creators and providers as the basis for the description of their learning objects. Relevant attributes of learning objects to be described can include amongst others: type of object; author; owner; terms of distribution; format; and pedagogical attributes, such as teaching style. The example of learning object metadata below follows the IEEE LOM standard as it is applied by the LOREnet, a tool developed by the Dutch SURF foundation for sharing knowledge within and between different universities. By registering captured lectures with LOREnet, they can be found, accessed and reused by students and lectures of all Dutch universities. The list of metadata specifications below is only partially compulsory. Name

Explanation

Subject area: General

This category groups the general information that describes this learning object as a whole

Identifier

A globally unique label that identifies this learning object.

Catalogue

The name or designator of the identification or cataloguing scheme for this entry.

Entry

The value of the identifier within the identification or cataloguing scheme that designates or identifies this learning object.

Title

Name given to this learning object.

Language

The primary human language or languages used within this learning object to communicate to the intended user.

Description

A textual description of the content of this learning object.

Keyword

A keyword or phrase describing the topic of this learning object.


Name

Explanation

Coverage

The time, culture, geography or region to which this learning object applies. The extent or scope of the content of the learning object. Coverage will typically include spatial location (a place name or geographic coordinates), temporal period (a period label, date, or date range) or jurisdiction (such as a named administrative entity).

Role and Contribute Life Cycle

This category describes the history and current state of this learning object and those entities that have affected this learning object during its evolution.

Version

The version or edition of this learning object.

Status

The completion status or condition of this learning object.

Contribute

Those entities (i.e., people, organizations) that have contributed to the state of this learning object during its life cycle (e.g., creation, edits, publication).

Role

Kind of contribution (author, editor...).

Entity

The identification of and information about entities (i.e., people, organizations) contributing to this learning object.

Date

The date of the contribution.

Language

Language of this metadata instance.

Technical

This category describes the technical requirements and characteristics of this learning object.

Format

Technical data type(s) of (all the components of) this learning object. This data element shall be used to identify the software, player or viewer needed to access the learning object.

Size

The size of the digital learning object in bytes.

Location

A string that is used to access this learning object. It may be a location (e.g., Universal Resource Locator), or a method that resolves to a location (e.g., Universal Resource Identifier).

Duration

Duration of a continuous learning object when played at intended speed.

Educational

This category describes the key educational or pedagogic characteristics of this learning object. This metadata is aimed at teachers, managers, authors, and learners.

Learning Resource Type

Specific kind of learning object. The most dominant kind shall be first.

Rights

This category describes the intellectual property rights and conditions of use for this learning object.

Cost

Whether use of this learning object requires payment.

Copyright and Other Restrictions

Whether copyright or other restrictions apply to the use of this learning object.

Description

Comments on the conditions of use of this learning object.

5.11 Integration with VLE platforms (Virtual Learning Environments)


Lecture recordings in short time have started to play an important role in higher education, integrated into specific VLEs or in generic forms of eLearning. Lecture capture systems are quickly becoming an emerging tool in VLEs to generate didactic material directly inside the learning platform, embedded in the classroom schedule and accompanied with other course materials and classroom or individual activities. Some VLEs have their own tool integrated (Blackboard and Elluminate, Moodle and AutoTrain…). Non VLE based lecture capture systems offer ways to integrate (embed) the captured lectures immediately in whatever VLE the institution may be using.


6. Technical trends and development 6.1

Common trends

In “How to move beyond lecture capture: pedagogical guide” Clive Young and Sylvia Moes predict that “...the technology of lecture recording is evolving rapidly offering new opportunities to use recorded material. For example we can now identify active patterns of student usage of video recordings, offering the potential of feedback to teachers on the original event. Modern systems enable the linking in of social networking tools to identify and discuss educational ‘hot spots’ in the video resource. Lecture capture can also be used to develop rich media podcasts and ‘knowledge clips’ which integrate seamlessly with institutional virtual learning environments and can be downloaded for mobile learners.” Thanks to lecture capturing, students can view the lecture online before they arrive in the classroom, so they can spend the largest part of the contact hours in class to discuss the topic with the lecturer or to begin practical work individually or in group. In that way captured lectures in combination with tutoring, classroom practise and discussion form the pathway to the deployment of the flipped classroom. Mobile and desktop capture tools, web video, social media also empower students to share, re-use and mash up video clips, annotate and recommend them, leading possibly to a convergence of institutional and student generated resources. Cloud computing will enable lecturers, students and learners to share knowledge and to exchange information within secure and safe environments without the risk of breaching their privacy. Augmented reality may soon take advantage of knowledge clips that are distilled from lecture capture that can be called to overlay and enhance real world situations in order to allow for just in time and just in place learning.

6.2

Future developments

6.2.1 Attendance certification Personal identification is an important issue in (e-)learning: the distance between learner and teacher sometimes does not allow for verification of the identity of each student with the option of earning a certificate or diploma of completion after attending a programme of study. Several techniques are being developed: complex and error prone systems using tokens, passwords or identity cards have been received with scepticism. Developments of mobile identification using QR Code or on-line certification using number by voice could guarantee in the future that students have followed (listened to and watched), a complete recorded lecture. Number by voice is based on the automated injection of unique, randomly selected and pre-recorded integer numbers within the audio trace of a video stream, which need to be identified by students. Such systems can of course only verify attendance of students and not their understanding or acquisition of the knowledge, skills, attitudes or competences. MOOC provider Coursera uses facial and typing characteristic identifier to verify users identity on some programmes.

6.2.2 Automated camera tracking LectureSight, automated camera tracking to be integrated with Opencast Matterhorn, but an open system that can be integrated in other systems, an automated camera control system in a lecture room, stable tracking of the lecturer throughout the whole presentation. The part of the system that controls the PTZ-camera is split into two separate modules for this reason: The first module, the so called 'camera steering worker', deals with moving the camera, while the second module decides about the targets for the camera movement based on data provided by the scene analysis. The actual


strategy this 'virtual director' uses is defined via a JavaScript API. The idea is to provide maximum flexibility when it comes to customizing LectureSight for an individual class room. Most of the lecture recordings in Tel Aviv University (TAU) are made by students sitting behind the camera and tracing the lecturer. Though the staff cost is not so high, there is quite a problem finding students to keep on working at least for a whole semester long. The most difficult problem in lecturer tracking system, is not the processes of tracking the lecturer or identify him from others crossing the camera frame but to make the intelligent decision whether to keep on tracking the lecturer while he moves away after writing something on the board or stop the tracking and remain on the written content on the blackboard previously written by the lecturer. The "LectureSight" tracking system could be integrated with video management systems other than Opencast Matterhorn. The module provides a solution to automatically track speakers in a classroom situation, thus providing a more convenient shot of the instructor when compared to a fixed overview camera. The goal is to come to a subjective quality close to a human-controlled camera in a standard setting, thus reducing the staffing cost for lecture recording significantly. Parts of an automated system: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6.

a scene analysis that discovers and tracks the positions of moving objects in the scene a plug-in mechanism for object analysis modules a facility for communicating with PTZ cameras (currently supports Sony VISCA protocol) a module that controls the movement of the PTZ camera a virtual camera operator that executes camera control strategies defined in JavaScript a GUI for tuning the system for individual class rooms

Player interface of the automatic camera tracking system LectureSight

6.2.3 Other developments Further developments that are expected to trickle through in education applications are coming from the world of corporate and commercial media streaming. Amongst them are: Event notification systems that notify registered invitees that an online meeting such as a live lecture capture is starting can help boost attendance and effectiveness for students.


Peer-to-peer networking solutions help spread the workload in peak distribution situations to minimise bandwidth strain when very large groups of students are following the same presentation at the same time, which can causes high levels of video data traffic that can cause problems on corporate networks. Integration of attendee identification and registration to collect information from students and in addition analysis of viewer’s trends. Analytics can help to keep track of who followed lectures and for how long. Systems that allow for image, motion and sound recognition, and in that way can help for example extract automatic metadata, or help chapterise, index and slice long recordings. Content recognition can also help with the deeper analysis of image, motion and sound and be the first step to analysis based assessment and quality assurance of lecture capture content from both the lecturer and the student’s point of view.


7. Technical guide and advice, tips and suggestions Lecture capture has recently emerged as a must have technology for the future. It’s no longer a tool confined to education as IT professionals across industries are beginning to recognize its ability to increase access to information, save money and reduce downtime.

7.1

What is Lecture Capture?

Lecture capture is any platform that records a meeting, lesson or presentation in a digital format. The video is then either posted online for later viewing or set up for on-demand screening. In most cases, content can be integrated with a pre-existing learning management or content management system. There are different types of lecture capture solutions available. Some are appliance based and require the purchase of company-specific hardware. For example, Sonic Foundry’s Mediasite requires the user to purchase the Mediasite recorder. The recorder is available in a small mobile size or a larger room-based size. The recorder captures video that can then be streamed or downloaded to any device as an mp3 or mp4 file. In this case, the video content can also be burned to a CD or saved to a USB drive audio recording. Other times an external camera or microphone can be connected as well. Most lecture capture solutions include basic editing functions and may come with a closed captioning option. A few like Mediasite and Tegrity offer custom branding which allows the user to add a company or institution’s logo to the video as well as change a graphic’s colour and appearance.

7.2

Common Fears

The most common fears associated with lecture capture are security and copyright issues. Security concerns generally arise around hosting. Some users are not comfortable hosting content on the cloud or outside their own firewalls. The fear is that a hacker or a virus could potentially exploit vulnerabilities in a company’s security measures. Some users prefer to host content on their own servers, relying on their own antivirus protection and firewalls which are maintained by the end users own IT department. Fortunately, solutions like Panopto Focus provide multiple options for hosting, which allows the end user to choose the method that makes them most comfortable. A user can choose to host content on-site, have content hosted by the lecture capture company or store content in the cloud. Copyright issues usually appear in two forms. The first is when viewers use your content without attribution or consent. For example, you post a video of a meeting or a speech and a viewer re-posts it on their own site without attribution. If the recording you made is posted online it’s easy for someone else to copy the link or embed the video somewhere else. The second way copyright issues emerge is when you may be using someone else’s information. For example, you include a graphic in your PowerPoint presentation or a quote from a third party source. If the material isn’t properly attributed it is considered plagiarism. Other solutions are software based. For example, McGraw Hill’s Tegrity is a Web-based software application that allows users to store content on the cloud or locally. These solutions often use the built-in camera and microphone on a desktop or laptop computer for video and Unlike most technology applications, lecture capture solutions are likely to enjoy a relatively barrier-free path to widespread adoption. Over the last few years, many institutions have invested in outfitting their classrooms and lecture halls with significant audio-visual (AV) technology, including whiteboards, projectors, wireless Internet connectivity and laptop computers. As a result, a significant percentage of classrooms are already prepared for the introduction of a lecture capture solution and require little additional investment in hardware. As institutions implement lecture capture, they often find that the rate of adoption is determined not by the


need to obtain faculty and student acceptance but by how quickly additional classrooms can be equipped with the necessary AV equipment.


8. References and further reading -

Erasmus Recording and Augmenting Lectures for Learning (REC:all) project http://www.rec-all.info/

-

REC:all's collection of resources associated with the new pedagogies of lecture capture http://www.scoop.it/t/rec-all/

-

Oasis/OASE project http://www.weblectures.nl/ (in Dutch)

-

ViTAL Video in Teaching and Learning (UK-based educational special interest group linked to REC:all) http://vital-sig.ning.com/

-

http://www.universitybusiness.com/article/lecture-capture-fresh-look

-

Mobile learning:

-

o

http://www.kenniswiki.nl/Mobile_learning#Welke_systemen_zijn_in_gebruik

o

http://www.surfnetkennisnetproject.nl/publicaties

Different methods: o

http://curve.coventry.ac.uk/open/items/7b94c9db-fb17-fbee-43afa11fb4249a9c/1/What%20About%20different%20methods%20of%20lecture%20capture.pdf

o

http://www.atimod.com/podcasting/2-mobile.shtml

o

http://www.atimod.com/podcasting/3-enhanced.shtml

o

http://www.impala.ac.uk/

o

http://www.weblectures.nl/

o

http://www.indiana.edu/~mdpiub/CTS/CCUMC.html

o

http://www.alt.ac.uk/events/lecture-capture-conference

o

http://newsletter.alt.ac.uk/2011/08/highlights-from-%e2%80%98lecture-capture-doing-itwell-and-at-scale%e2%80%99/

o

http://www.educause.edu/ero/article/lecture-capture-what-can-be-automated

o

http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/xpl/freeabs_all.jsp?arnumber=6123405&abstractAccess=no&user Type=inst

o

http://video2.virtuos.uni-osnabrueck.de:8080/engage/ui/watch.html?id=6dba66d9-0a5345ed-bc67-7ab3bf50b31c

o

http://lecturesight.org/


9. ANNEX: index of suppliers In this annex you can find a short description of the most common or well-known lecture capture systems. These are selected amongst those systems that are self-built, as is the case in a large number of universities, systems that are often based on existing hardware and software components, complemented with own developed tools and services. Furthermore we will list the systems that are available on the market as commercial or free and open source products. This is a non-exhaustive list of systems, the list will be updated online via the REC:all website:

9.1

Accordent Classroom Recording

Accordent Classroom Recording is based on Accordent’s multimedia asset management system that enables organisations such as HEIs to manage, search and secure online multimedia presentations created with Accordent presentation tools, as well as archived versions of content from videoconferences, web conferences and video clips. Accordent is part of Polycom since 2011.

9.2

Adobe Connect

Adobe Connect is a web conferencing platform that can be used for eLearning and webinars. It is a rapidly deployed, saleable service that support multiple media and content formats. Persistent virtual classrooms allow for playback at all times. The system allows for a great deal of flexibility and interaction, mobility as well as multi party ingestion of content and real time learner tracking to maximize participation. Adobe can function as a Learning Management System (LMS) or be integrated with existing LMSs.

9.3

AutoTrain

AutoView is a cloud like lecture capture, an easy to manage, centralised service that can be almost seamlessly integrated with Moodle and operated entirely from within the web browser. Teachers and students can stay within the VLE to watch video courses or participate in live lecture broadcasts. AutoTrain is the result of a successful, long running European Social Fund project of a spin off of the University of Birmingham. The company builds paid bespoke new features or or provides support upon request.

9.4

BigBlueButton

BigBlueButton is an Open Source Web Conferencing system for on-line learning. Its latest version features a simple users interface, APIs for integration with 3rd party applications, record and playback of whiteboard and webcams, IMS LTI support, desktop sharing, integrated Voice over IP, various presentation formats that can be screened dynamically etc.

9.5

Blackboard Collaborate

Collaborate is Blackboard’s integrated live web conference solution. It combines a high degree of usability with mobility in any LMS, VoIP audio, chat with embedded HTML, multimedia playback (.wmv) and flexibility regarding ingested content. Many more tools allow for a high degree of flexibility: setting up break out rooms, pre- and post lecture support etc.

9.6

Camtasia

TechSmith Camtasia is in the first place a popular and powerful screen recording and video editing application, which is easy-to-use. Screen activity can be recorded and combined with imported HD/camera video, edited


and augmented with audio (live or pre-recorded) content, and distributed on nearly any device. Video can be made interactive.

9.7

Capturer Lecture Video Recording System - Tel Aviv University (Tau), Israel

Capturer is a low-cost solution that works on PC. It integrates lecturer video with his computer desktop activities (VGA signal) in real time and within a single image. The lecture captured can be broadcast live, including both VGA and video signals. The recording output is a single video file (.wmv). A special simple laptop version of Capturer is also available.

9.8

Cisco Lecture Vision - Cisco Systems.

Cisco Lecture Vision is a lecture capture solution which takes its input from a Tandberg Video Codec, which typically takes three inputs: speaker audio, speaker video and the presentation video. The codec combines these into a single Audio/Video stream which is passed to a Telepresence Content Server and recorded. Because the system is videoconferencing based it is possible to combine with or interact between various lectures. Various picture in picture layouts with the lecturer video and slides are possible. The server platform (Cisco’s Show and Share video portal) features Cisco Pulse Analytics, which takes the audio track and analyses it to produce a voice profile of the speaker ( or multiple speakers ) and in addition produces a key word index which is displayed on the user interface. Users can then click on the key word index to jump to the point in the video where the indexed word is spoken.

9.9

Echo360

ECHO360 is probably one of the most advanced and comprehensive lecture capture solutions, which goes beyond traditional classroom recording and adds flipped classroom functionalities, student engagement (polls, quizzes and other activities) and so on to traditional lectures. It provides various forms of learning analytics and indicators (who’s participating, identify weak points and students) and so on.

9.10 Epiphan Epiphan Systems builds a variety of low-cost image and video capture solutions that capture any VGA and DVI signals. The hardware is easily combined with other tools and products like recorders and broadcasters to form a low-cost system for lecture recording and broadcasting.

9.11 Galicaster Galicaster is an open source project that builds units for multistream recording. It is based on and developed as Open source with a high degree of adaptability to various distribution platforms. The lecture capture system is a lecturer-driven class-based or mobile recording system, that is easily adapted to a variety of teaching scenarios, according to the technical capacity of the lecturer and his support team. The system can work in total autonomy, both online and offline, and even separate from the lecturer's computer. It is adaptable to various recording devices, in both automatic and manual modes, with media replay and export capacity to other systems.

9.12 L2l (Live To E-Learning) - Cineca, Italy The L2L service provides a semi-automatic transformation of live lectures into e-learning activities ready to be published and delivered on e-Learning platforms. It is a system developed by a consortium of Italian universities which combines a number of elements: the L2L recorder and player, that allow for both on- and off


–line delivery, allowing at the same time for different usage scenarios. A Mediamosa-Moodle integration handles the storage and media management. The player delivers the media in Adobe Flash and in multiformat also for podcasting.

9.13 Opencast Matterhorn Matterhorn is a free, open-source platform to support the management of educational audio and video content. Institutions (mainly for Higher Education) use Matterhorn to produce lecture recordings, manage existing video, serve designated distribution channels, and provide user interfaces to engage students with the recorded and distributed educational videos. The system allows for capturing and administration: it provides specifications for building a capture agent to automatically record audio, video and VGA signal. Furthermore a set of administration tools can be created on the basis of the open source tools to manage the recordings and to process the media in a highly configurable workflow which includes video encoding, metadata generation, scene detection, preview image generation, trimming, captioning and text analysis. Matterhorn publishes recordings in various modes and formats. The Matterhorn player allows slide segmentation and in-video text search across multiple platforms.

9.14 Openeya openEyA is a Linux-based automated lecture capture system developed by the Science Dissemination Unit (SDU) of the Abdus Salam International Centre for Theoretical Physics (ICTP). openEyA functions under Linux and integrates video in Flash format with presentation slides from screen captures or any USB webcam (to also record classroom podium, blackboard and/or projector screen) and classroom audio. openEyA allows to archive and share traditional (scientific) lectures combining chalkboard and/or presentations (PPT, PDF, animations, etc.) without any intervention during recording and post-processing. It promises a scalable architecture and portability, all for a low cost of hardware implementation.

9.15 Panopto Panopto is a comprehensive media solution that includes software for (remote controlled) recording and live broadcasting of presentations, lectures, training videos, screencasts, etc. It includes a video content management system for importing and editing videos, searching inside them, and viewing them on any device, including iPhone and iPad. Students can record Panopto sessions and take notes during a presentation, pause, search, review, and add notes based on their individual learning needs. Panopto can work with available equipment in any environment and it is easy to scale. It furthermore allows for student recording and LMS Integration.

9.16 Polycom Polycom is not by definition a lecture capture solution provider but its solutions (codecs, media recorder and server, media asset management and distribution services) allow the user to construct a high quality lecture capture solution around its hardware, software and services.

9.17 Presentations 2go Presentations 2Go provides complete lecture recording systems, from standalone recordings with a webcam to automated campus wide lecture capture installations including solutions for live and on-demand streaming with live tagging, rating, statistics and optional integration options for LMSs. Standalone recording software can be installed on a notebook, workstation or dedicated capture station for classroom deployment. This solution works with existing hardware and most audio/video equipment, making automated capture, webcast and publishing possible. Presentations 2Go enables students to make online notes while following a lecture or


presentation on mobile devices. Teachers and students can also add public or private notes retrospectively when viewing a web lecture.

9.18 Recordingbox by Fontys Hogeschool The Recording Box is a low cost solutions for smaller implementations, it records lessons and converts these directly to online content. The lecturer can record with this easy to use both his or herself and the information transmitted by his/her computer. The Recording Box automates the process so that the teacher can lecture without any further interventions. When the recording is finished, it will automatically be sent to a website using the built in computer. The content will then become available online to be played back or integrated in a VLE, a blog or website.

9.19 Sonic Foundry Mediasite Mediasite is an integrated solution for the full cycle of web lecture. It allows for capture, upload and storage of video, to manage all video assets with a powerful suite of tools to archive, index, customize, secure, search and analyse the content, and to deliver interactive webcasts, lectures and rich media, streamed live and on-demand to any screen and learning platform.

9.20 Switchcast Video Management System - Switch, Switzerland SWITCHcast is a simple-to-use integrated video management platform where one can upload videos to a central Server, post process them, which comprises editing, tagging, chaptering, publishing via a LMS. The management interface is simple and self-explanatory. It gives the administrator control over the whole process. SWITCHcast supports several recording formats and use cases (presenter and slides, slides and voice, screencasts, clips). The audience can be defined by simple means from world-wide to very case-specific and can annotate the videos they see.

9.21 Tegrity Campus Tegrity Campus is a fully automated lecture capture solution used to record lectures in various set ups for distribution as 'flipped classes" as well as for online courses. Its personalized learning features comprise search and real-time LMS integration. Students can view recordings on PC, Mac or mobile devices using a standard web-browser, with timeline and thumbnail views. The Search Anything technology automatically captures any text presented on screen, and provides search results across entire courses.

9.22 Telestream Telestream is a suite of media tools and workflow solutions to capture lectures, teaching sessions and any other educational media and publishes these to any audience in a variety of digital formats. Conversion is possible to virtually any format for viewing on any screen, including TVs, PCs, tablets and smart phones. Live webcasts can combine multiple video cameras, pre-recorded videos, computer desktops, audio tracks, images and titles. Screencasts and video tutorials with screen capture videos, combined with camera images, microphone and computer audio can be recorded, edited, transmitted and published to the web.

9.23 Vbrick Systems VBrick provides hardware and software system that allows building of system for the creation and distribution of media content. It contains a video management and distribution platform for capturing and broadcasting video across any network, using any device, both through cloud-based or on-premises management of video


content. It supports storage and delivery of video-on-demand content, including high-definition video and other rich media, managed on premises, in the cloud, or in a hybrid solution.

9.24 Video Furnace Haivision Haivision’s portfolio of solutions support learning with video recording, review and distribution: it provides different combinations of all-in-one capture, stream, record and video on-demand appliances with dual stream synchronized HD, with video systems providing complete infrastructure for delivering secure video to desktops, displays, and mobile devices within an organization.

9.25 Videolab by K.U.Leuven Videolab is the online multimedia management service for education and research at the Association KU Leuven. Teachers and researchers can share and manage recordings of classroom sessions and their own multimedia files. These materials can be shared on their own websites or inside the online learning platform Toledo. News recordings, interesting documentaries, self-created movies, web lectures, sound recordings, interviews... Videolab is more than an online media player: users can also interact with the available multimedia. Users can easily insert Videolab content in courses or communities.

9.26 Videotorium - Niif, Hungary Videotorium is a video/audio sharing portal created for research and education. Videotorium provides professional presentation of video content recorded at higher education institutions. Videotorium was launched in 2010 by the Hungarian research and education computer network infrastructure National Information Infrastructure Development (NIIF) Institute. Videotorium is freely available for all NIIF member institutions, but any non-profit research and education activity can be supported.

9.27 Vips - Kaunas University Of Technology, Lithuania ViPS – Video Presentation System – is a system for online streaming of video lectures, conferences, seminars, etc. It includes capacity for storing and sharing recordings and for managing broadcasts. It allows for advanced editing and management of recordings, combined with their description and data annotation. Flexible user and user groups access rights management is possible. The system stores recordings in Windows Media and Flash video streaming formats.

9.28 Webex WebEx is a platform for delivery of interactive classes and training online, with video, breakout sessions, and hands-on learning possibilities. It has facilities built in for e-commerce, testing, tracking, and grading. It is in the first place a web conferencing platform but it can be used to record classes and deliver them in real time or recorded. It is highly saleable in numbers of participants and quality of media. Interactivity allows for sharing of multimedia, application or whiteboard, as well as for threaded Q&A, chat, polling, and quizzes. WebEx can integrate with an LMS, and build an on-demand training library.


10. Annex: Comparison between lecture capture systems and services In the following tables we have tried to provide a comprehensive overview of lecture capture (LC) services and systems that to our knowledge are currently available. We did not include the (many) systems that are custom built within institutions or organisations and which may be very interesting and innovative but which are not available to interested parties outside the organisation. In case you are interested to find out more about that group of systems, please check the previous part 9. ANNEX: index of suppliers, where some of them are briefly described. Creating a comparative list and overview of systems and services for lecture capture is not an easy task. The difficulties are many. First of all, this technology is rather new and a final definition of what is understood by lecture capturing is still under development. We take the definition we found on Wikipedia, which uses the term lecture recording: “Lecture recording refers to the process of recording and archiving the content of a lecture, conference, or seminar. It consists of hardware and software components that work in synergy to record audio and visual components of the lecture.” Under “audio and visual components of the lecture” we understand the image and/or sound from the lecturer as well as the audiovisual materials (slides, screens…) the lecturer is using during his lecture. When looking at the systems that institutions and organisations are using for lecture capturing, we see also that quite a few of them are (still) using systems or services that are not designed specifically for lecture capture, they use for example web conferencing systems. For that reason we included some of these in the table as well, even though there are of course some functional differences. Creating a comparative table is also difficult because there is a continuous and fast-paced development and innovation in this domain. Almost weekly there are announcements of new features added to existing systems or companies (suppliers) stepping into (or out of) this field. To create an in-depth and fully representative table of features and functions, it would have been necessary to implement and test all the different systems and services in depth. That was beyond our possibilities, we had to limit our research to desk research, consulting the documentation provided by the suppliers, enhanced with information from reviews and publications or interviews with users. We do not have hands on experience with all the systems or services that we have included. This means that there may be shortcomings in the comparative table, and we invite readers (including suppliers) to send their comments, additions and corrections to [email protected] so that we can update and upgrade this table in future versions, which we intend to publish in the same way. We also did not include pricing information: price setting is complex in most cases and not very transparent. This would have required first of all a lot of further research and secondly extensive additional explanations. For that reason and also because prices vary over time and by location, we decided not to include price information. Finally we want to provide some clarification to the table and the terminology used in it. In the following legend we have included some further explanation on how to interpret the classification and terms used in the tables, where we think it is necessary. Where - from our reading of the documentation or research - the functionality seems not present or not integrated as such in the standard version of the product or service, then we have left the qualification in the final table blank. Note that the authors have no interest in or commercial relationship with any of the suppliers mentioned in this report, all information is provided as accurately as possible and to the best of our knowledge.


Name

Explanation

Main LC functionalities

These are considered the main functionalities a lecture capture should have:

Capture Record Stream/broadcast Manage Publish/integrate

Accept a video, audio and presentation input, Record the incoming video, audio and presentation, Retransmit this immediately or with some delay, Archive and organise recordings, Make the recordings available when, where and as required.

System-type (HW, SW, web based, hosted, SaaS...)

How the system or product is supplied: hosted in house (servers, HW, SW implementations) or outside. The latter (increasingly) includes cloud-based solutions.

OS Compatibility Host

Some systems or products require a host and have limited OS requirements.

Works with existing, available hardware: cameras, audio etc.?

All systems integrate capturing hardware such as cameras and microphones, only very few add proprietary hardware appliances (mostly the capture/record/streaming device).

System Integrations (in VLE, web…)

Does the LC system or service integrate directly with learning management systems?

Type/nature

How? (This is often described superficially).

Simultaneous recordings, channels

Can the system handle multiple LC sessions concurrently?

Scalability

Does the system provide options for extension?

Interactive Features

Can the end user interact easily with the content, for example tag, annotate, create own archives etc. Different functionalities can be present in different systems.

Editing

Can the content be edited within the LC system (without having to call upon an external editor?)

Scheduling

Can the system be programmed to operate without hands on operator control (automated recording according to prescheduled times)?

User generated content recording

Can learners contribute their own media to the LC system (for example to share, comment, and submit)?

Recording format(s)

What is the recommended recording format? (Note: this is not always documented)

Streaming format(s)/Output format(s)

What are the output formats offered? (Note: this too is not always documented)

Videoconference integration?

Can a videoconference terminal (ITU standard H32x equipment) be integrated in the solutions as a capture station?

White board

Is electronic white board an integrated function?

Customisable interface

Can the learner modify the interface to change his way of viewing the content?

Collaboration

Does the LC system provide integrated tools for the users to collaborate (communicate, co-create, share etc.) on materials?

Break out rooms

Can the learner group easily be broken up into different groups working independently on the same of different content?


Name

Explanation

Document and file upload and management

Can documents other than media formats be uploaded, managed and shared (for example text, spreadsheet …)?

Quizzes

Can the lecturer integrate quizzes and basic assessments easily in the system?

Polls/voting

Can the lecturer integrate polls easily in the system?

Tasks

Can the lecturer assign tasks to learners from within the system?

Discussions/Forum

Can discussions or fora be held within the system?

Annotation

Can users annotate content?

Community functionalities (recommend/share/like)

Can users recommend/share/like content and share their opinion with each other from within the service itself?

Chat

Is there a chat function for live online communication?

Publishing options on:

Can the recorded lectures be published directly from the service or system onto:

iTunesU YouTube Vimeo cloud-based solution HW Room integration

Does the service or system standard foresee in integration with room management hardware such as lights, curtains, PA systems etc.?

Meeting/materials persistence

Do the lectures after the recording remain available without intervention?

Mobile clients

Does the service provide in access through different mobile devices: is the output adaptive or are mobile clients available?

Accessibility (e.g. close captioning, screen reader)

Are functionalities provided for users with hearing or seeing problems?

Hardware capture solution

Is the service predominantly focused on capturing and recording?

Media management solution

Is the service predominantly focused on management of recorded lectures?

Integration with

Recommended products or services for integration (for example as Hardware capture solution or as Media management solution)

Contact info

Web site of the supplier The following two questions pertain only to the few Webinar/web conferencing systems that can be considered LC systems to, thanks to the way they are being used.

Web conference? 2-way Video/Audio Web conference? multi-way Video/Audio

Can you do a two way conference call? Can you hold multiparty conferencing sessions?


Main LC functionalities stream/broadcast manage

capture

record

x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x

x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x

x x x x x x x x x x x x (x) x x x

x x x

x x x

x x (x) x x x x x (x) (x)

x x

x

x

*(x)

x

x x x x x x *(x) x x

(x) (x) (x) (x) (x) (x) (x) (x) (x)

(x) (x) (x) (x)

(x) (x) (x) (x)

Lecture capture Cattura Crestron CaptureLiveHD Echo360 Epiphan Lecture Recorder Galicaster Haivision Network Video Kaltura CaptureSpace MediaCore MediaPOINTE Studio/HD Portal Panopto Presentations2go Sonic Foundry Mediasite TechSmith Camtasia/TechRelay Tegrity Vbrick Systems Winnov Cbox Media management Opencast Matterhorn *(with PuMuKit) Webinar/web conferencing Adobe Connect Big Blue Button Blackboard Collaborate Cisco Lecture Vision - Cisco Systems. OpenMeetings Polycom Skype *(with recorder function) Spreed Webex


x x x x x x x x x

(x) (x) (x)

publish/integrate

x x x x x x

System-type (HW, SW, web based, hosted, SaaS...) Lecture capture Cattura Crestron CaptureLiveHD Echo360 Epiphan Lecture Recorder Galicaster Haivision Network Video Kaltura CaptureSpace MediaCore MediaPOINTE Studio/HD Portal Panopto Presentations2go Sonic Foundry Mediasite TechSmith Camtasia/TechRelay Tegrity Vbrick Systems Winnov Cbox Media management Opencast Matterhorn *(with PuMuKit) Webinar/web conferencing Adobe Connect Big Blue Button Blackboard Collaborate Cisco Lecture Vision - Cisco Systems. OpenMeetings Polycom Skype *(with recorder function) Spreed Webex

HW/SW/appliance/web based/cloud HW Integrated system, SaaS HW HW HW SaaS SaaS HW Integrated system, SaaS Integrated system, SaaS Integrated system, SaaS (proprietary hardware) SW, SaaS Cloud/SaaS Integrated system, SaaS (proprietary hardware) HW

OS Compatibility Host Win/Mac Win/Mac Linux Ubuntu/(others) Linux All

Win/Mac Win Proprietary Win, Mac Win/Mac Win

web based web based, hosted, SaaS web based, hosted Web based, hosted HW/SW, partially hosted SW HW SaaS SaaS SaaS


Win Linux/(Win/Unix/Mac) Win/Unix/Linux Proprietary Linux/Win Proprietary

Works with existing, available hardware: cameras, audio etc? Lecture capture Cattura Crestron CaptureLiveHD Echo360 Epiphan Lecture Recorder Galicaster Haivision Network Video Kaltura CaptureSpace MediaCore MediaPOINTE Studio/HD Portal Panopto Presentations2go Sonic Foundry Mediasite TechSmith Camtasia/TechRelay Tegrity Vbrick Systems Winnov Cbox Media management Opencast Matterhorn *(with PuMuKit) Webinar/web conferencing Adobe Connect Big Blue Button Blackboard Collaborate Cisco Lecture Vision - Cisco Systems. OpenMeetings Polycom Skype *(with recorder function) Spreed Webex

Yes Yes Yes (recording appliance additional) Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes (recording appliance additional) Yes Yes Yes Yes

Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes


System Integrations (in VLE, web…) type/nature

Simultaneous recordings, channels

Learning Engine

Yes

LTI

Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes

Option Moodle/Blackboard Building Blocks plug in LTI/SCORM/APIs OAI/IEEE-LOM APIs/Modules SCORM/Blackboard web service Option

Yes Yes Yes

DC/RSS

Yes

SCORM IMS LTI 1.0 Blackboard/LTI

Yes Yes

various (APIs, plug ins)

Option

Option

Interactive Features

Scalability Lecture capture Cattura Crestron CaptureLiveHD Echo360 Epiphan Lecture Recorder Galicaster Haivision Network Video Kaltura CaptureSpace MediaCore MediaPOINTE Studio/HD Portal Panopto Presentations2go Sonic Foundry Mediasite TechSmith Camtasia/TechRelay Tegrity Vbrick Systems Winnov Cbox Media management Opencast Matterhorn *(with PuMuKit) Webinar/web conferencing Adobe Connect Big Blue Button Blackboard Collaborate Cisco Lecture Vision - Cisco Systems. OpenMeetings Polycom Skype *(with recorder function) Spreed

Yes Yes Yes (depends on HW) Yes Yes Yes Yes

Editing Yes

Scheduling Yes Yes Yes

Yes

Yes

Option

Option

Option Yes

Option

Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes

Yes Yes Yes Yes (TechRelay) Yes Yes Yes

Yes Yes Yes

Yes Yes Yes

Yes

Yes Yes

Yes

Yes

Limited

Yes

Yes Yes Yes Yes

Yes Yes Yes Yes

Yes Limited Yes

Yes

Yes


Yes Yes Yes

Yes Yes Yes Option Yes

User generated content recording Yes Yes

Yes Yes

Yes

Recording format(s) Lecture capture Cattura Crestron CaptureLiveHD Echo360 Epiphan Lecture Recorder Galicaster Haivision Network Video Kaltura CaptureSpace MediaCore MediaPOINTE Studio/HD Portal Panopto Presentations2go Sonic Foundry Mediasite TechSmith Camtasia/TechRelay Tegrity Vbrick Systems Winnov Cbox Media management Opencast Matterhorn *(with PuMuKit) Webinar/web conferencing Adobe Connect Big Blue Button Blackboard Collaborate Cisco Lecture Vision - Cisco Systems. OpenMeetings Polycom Skype *(with recorder function) Spreed Webex

Streaming format(s)/Output format(s)

H.264 H.264 various various (AVI, MOV, mpeg, H.264)

various various H.264

mpeg-4

mpeg-4

various mpeg-4, H.264 mpeg-4 various Proprietary native mpeg-4 H.264

various mpeg-4 mpeg-4, wmv various various various (proprietary, mpeg-4, wmv, flash…) mpeg-4 H.264 mpeg-4, wmv, mpeg-2, other

various

various

various

Flash Native Native H-264

Flash Flash Flash Flash

avi, wmv, mapeg-4, H.264 Option Proprietary

wmv, mpeg-4 mpeg-4 Flash Proprietary


Webconference? 2-way Video/Audio Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes

Videoconference integration? Lecture capture Cattura Crestron CaptureLiveHD Echo360 Epiphan Lecture Recorder Galicaster Haivision Network Video Kaltura CaptureSpace MediaCore MediaPOINTE Studio/HD Portal Panopto Presentations2go Sonic Foundry Mediasite TechSmith Camtasia/TechRelay Tegrity Vbrick Systems Winnov Cbox Media management Opencast Matterhorn *(with PuMuKit) Webinar/web conferencing Adobe Connect Big Blue Button Blackboard Collaborate Cisco Lecture Vision - Cisco Systems. OpenMeetings Polycom Skype *(with recorder function) Spreed Webex

White board

Yes

Customisable interface Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes

Yes

Yes Option

Partially

Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes

Webconference? multi-way Video/Audio Yes Yes Yes Option Yes Option Yes Yes Yes


Videoconference integration? SIP/H264

SIP/H264 SIP/H264 Option

Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Option Yes Yes

Yes Yes Yes Yes

Collaboration Lecture capture Cattura Crestron CaptureLiveHD Echo360 Epiphan Lecture Recorder Galicaster Haivision Network Video Kaltura CaptureSpace MediaCore MediaPOINTE Studio/HD Portal Panopto Presentations2go Sonic Foundry Mediasite TechSmith Camtasia/TechRelay Tegrity Vbrick Systems Winnov Cbox Media management Opencast Matterhorn *(with PuMuKit) Webinar/web conferencing Adobe Connect Big Blue Button Blackboard Collaborate Cisco Lecture Vision - Cisco Systems. OpenMeetings Polycom Skype *(with recorder function) Spreed Webex

Break out rooms

Document and file upload and management

Quizzes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Option

Option

Yes Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes Yes

Yes Yes Yes

Yes

Yes Yes Yes

Yes Yes

Yes

Yes


Yes

Polls/voting

Tasks

Discussions/Forum

Annotation

Community functionalities (recommend/share/like)


Yes Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes Yes Option

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes Yes

Yes Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes Yes Yes Yes

Yes Yes Yes

Yes Yes


Chat

Publishing options on: iTunesU


YouTube

Yes

cloud-based solution Vimeo

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

option

option

option

Yes Yes Yes Yes

Yes

option Yes Yes Yes Yes (TechRelay) Yes

Yes Yes Yes

Yes Yes Yes Yes

Yes Yes Yes


Yes

Yes Yes

HW Room integration Lecture capture Cattura Crestron CaptureLiveHD Echo360 Epiphan Lecture Recorder Galicaster Haivision Network Video Kaltura CaptureSpace MediaCore MediaPOINTE Studio/HD Portal Panopto Presentations2go Sonic Foundry Mediasite TechSmith Camtasia/TechRelay Tegrity Vbrick Systems Winnov Cbox Media management Opencast Matterhorn *(with PuMuKit) Webinar/web conferencing Adobe Connect Big Blue Button Blackboard Collaborate Cisco Lecture Vision - Cisco Systems. OpenMeetings Polycom Skype *(with recorder function) Spreed Webex

Meeting/materials persistence

Mobile clients Yes

Yes Yes Yes Yes

Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes

Yes Yes

Yes Yes

Yes

Yes Yes Yes

Yes

Yes Yes Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes

Yes

Yes Yes


Yes Yes


Yes Yes (iPad) Yes Yes Yes Yes

Accessibility (e.g. close captioning, screen reader) Lecture capture Cattura Crestron CaptureLiveHD Echo360 Epiphan Lecture Recorder Galicaster Haivision Network Video Kaltura CaptureSpace MediaCore MediaPOINTE Studio/HD Portal Panopto Presentations2go Sonic Foundry Mediasite TechSmith Camtasia/TechRelay Tegrity Vbrick Systems Winnov Cbox Media management Opencast Matterhorn *(with PuMuKit) Webinar/web conferencing Adobe Connect Big Blue Button Blackboard Collaborate Cisco Lecture Vision - Cisco Systems. OpenMeetings Polycom Skype *(with recorder function) Spreed Webex

Yes

Hardware capture solution

Media management solution


Yes Option Yes

Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes

Yes Yes

Yes Yes

Yes Yes Option Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Option Option

Yes

Yes

Yes Yes Yes Yes

Yes Yes

Yes


Option

Integration with Lecture capture Cattura Crestron CaptureLiveHD Echo360 Epiphan Lecture Recorder Galicaster Haivision Network Video Kaltura CaptureSpace MediaCore MediaPOINTE Studio/HD Portal Panopto Presentations2go Sonic Foundry Mediasite TechSmith Camtasia/TechRelay Tegrity Vbrick Systems Winnov Cbox Media management Opencast Matterhorn *(with PuMuKit) Webinar/web conferencing Adobe Connect Big Blue Button Blackboard Collaborate Cisco Lecture Vision - Cisco Systems. OpenMeetings Polycom Skype *(with recorder function) Spreed Webex

Kaltura/MediaCore

Kaltura

PuMuKit (media management system)

TCS


Contact info http://www.catturavideo.com/ http://www.crestron.com http://echo360.com/ http://www.epiphan.com/ http://www.galicaster.org http://www.haivision.com/ http://corp.kaltura.com http://www.mediacore.com/ http://mediapointe.com http://www.panopto.com http://www.presentations2go.eu http://www.sonicfoundry.com/mediasite http://www.techsmith.com/camtasia.html http://www.tegrity.com http://www.vbrick.com http://www.winnov.com http://opencast.org/matterhorn/ http://www.adobe.com/products/adobeconnect.edu.html http://www.bigbluebutton.org/ https://www.blackboard.com/platforms/collaborate/overview.aspx http://www.cisco.com/web/strategy/education/enhanced_edu_capture.html http://openmeetings.apache.org/ http://www.polycom.com http://www.skype.com http://www.spreed.com http://www.webex.com

IMAGE CREDITS

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Iowa State University TV (by Special Collections Department / Iowa State University Library) M. Vanbuel Beyerdynamic Beyerdynamic Panasonic Richard Bellomy Epiphan Benjamin Wulff, Universität Osnabrück

This report has been funded with support from the European Commission. This document reflects the views only of the author and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein. Except where otherwise noted, this work is licensed under the Creative Commons AttributionNonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0.
